There was a time less than a year ago when Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti would identify a player he wanted but rather than making an exploratory phone call, he would just sigh and shake his head.

As the man in charge of assembling the roster for one of the most storied franchises in Major League Baseball in one of its biggest media markets, Colletti was shackled. Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt not only instructed his general manager to build the team on the cheap, he told Colletti to cut payroll year after year.

So when free agents like Adrian Beltre, Cliff Lee and Albert Pujols became available, Colletti looked away, knowing he didn’t even have to make the call to the owner’s office for permission to start negotiations. He already knew the answer.

One offseason later, Colletti is still in charge of building the Dodgers roster but now works for the most feared baseball ownership group in all the land, Guggenheim Baseball Management. Because of that group—headed by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson—and its seemingly bottomless pockets, the Dodgers are being called the “new” New York Yankees.

That rightfully concerns several rival executives, even if they won’t publicly admit it. Whether the result is signing a young player to an extension before they would prefer (think: Joey Votto, Cole Hamels) or a sudden willingness to dole out cash for a free agent, other teams—especially those in the National League (and specifically the NL West)—are reacting to what the Dodgers have become. That is, big spenders willing to write checks to get the best players in hopes of winning championships immediately.

Super agent Scott Boras had ignored the Dodgers under the McCourt ownership and jabbed the franchise for shopping in the “fruit-and-nuts aisle” at the grocery store.

And now?

“I think they bought the store,” Boras said at the general manager meetings last week. “I think the Dodger organization has made it clear they’re about superstars and they understand Los Angeles.”

With the Dodgers back at the top of Boras’ speed dial, other teams have been forced to consider what to do with their newfound wealth.

The Dodgers changed baseball’s landscape in half a season, starting in late July when they acquired Hanley Ramirez from the Miami Marlins. Then again a month later when they took on more than a quarter of a billion dollars in salary to get Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto from the Boston Red Sox.

Both were the kind of “bold” moves Colletti has been encouraged to consider and make under Guggenheim.

“We’ve got the freedom to think and do bold things,” Colletti said. “As of now, we haven’t been discouraged to have any thought or not consider any player.”

That the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers’ chief rivals, have won two World Series in the past three years will make Colletti reach even further. Giants general manager Brian Sabean scoffed at the notion the Dodgers might take over the division simply by spending more than everyone else.

“I don’t think it will change the division,” Sabean said. “Whether it’s us as the reigning world champs or them being the top spender, if you look at the history of the division, it’s outhouse and castle from year to year. You don’t necessarily have to have the best talent or the most money spent.”

All of that is true. Regardless of payroll, the NL West has seen its share of parity. But that was in a world where the Dodgers spent frugally, if at all, and nothing like the juggernaut franchise it could have been.

This is a new world. This is a baseball world where the Dodgers are going to spend like the “old” Yankees, topping a $200 million payroll while only the Giants can even dream of competing financially within the division.

The Dodgers are already locked in for more than $190 million next season, and that figure almost certainly will rise before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in mid-February.

“That’s open to debate depending on who we think is available,” Colletti said.

The Dodgers are committed to $142 million for 2014, $98 million in 2015 and almost $90 million in each of the following two seasons, according to baseballprospectus.com. Still, Colletti is shopping for long-term pitching, maybe a third baseman and possibly an outfielder.

The question has been asked multiple times in recent months: What is the limit to the Dodgers’ spending? So far, they haven’t set one.

That should be scary. Guggenheim paid a record $2.15 billion for the franchise and promised it had plenty more to shell out for players. Some people were skeptical. They shouldn’t be anymore.

The proof is in the payroll, one that is still rising with a looming TV deal set to break more records. No longer does Colletti have to wait on the sideline while the big boys on the block spend wildly. He is now the biggest and has the capital to dole out.

It’s a new time for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it’s a new time for baseball.